Small scale model railroad trackage and method of assembly



June 6, 1939 H. DAY 2,161,562

SMALL SCALE MODEL RAILROAD TRACKAGE AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 17, 1938 INVENTOR flown: DA)

Patented June 6, 1939 SMALL SCALE MODEL RAILROAD TRACK- AGE AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLY Howell Day, New Market, N. J.

Application November 17, 1938, Serial No. 240,887

1 Claim.

My invention relates to a system of track construction for small scale railroads, sometimes referred to as toy trains" and has for its object to produce an assembly that will present an accurate and properly proportioned track system upon which miniature model railroad trains may be operated.

In the present practice the standard T rail is secured to the cross ties with spikes or screw bolts. When miniature scale model railroads are constructed it has been physically impossible to reproduce the spikes to scale, let alone assembling them in position so as to hold the the rail to the cross tie by spiking the flange of the rail,

to the cross tie. Especially is this so when one is working with a miniature scale where the gauge is 16.5 mm. With this small size the ties are only wide, 3%" thick, and 1 long in size. The rail is less than 6" in height, to be exact it is .98. With this size in particular it has been impossible heretofore, to build a track system that would even remotely approach a realistic appearance. Various clampshave been proposed to secure the T rail to a base and spe- 5 cial shapes of rails have been proposed where 'the webs are held in embracing slots in the ties provided for the purpose, but all of these methods have the disadvantage of producing a track system that does not have the realistic appearance of the standard gauge railroad which is the dream of the worker in scale models. Furthermore the clips that have been proposed are large and unsightly and represent no actual scale reduction of any part found on a full size railroad track system.

A further object is to provide a method of securing the rail to the ties that is easily assembled and economical in cost and one that lends itself best to a machine assembly where the cost may be brought down to a point where many model builders will be able to enjoy the use of my track system, where present hand assembly methods make present track assembly prohibitive in cost.

The foregoing and other features of my invention will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part, of this specification in which I have represented my rail system in its preferred form after which I shall ,point out in the claim those features which I believe to be new and of my own invention.

'In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an enlarged isometric view of my track assembly.

Figure 2 is a plan view of one cross tie with two rails fastened in position thereon.

Figure 3 is an elevation of the tie assembly of Figure 2.

In the carrying out of my invention I provide 5 a plurality of cross ties ll these are preferably made of wood, but they may be made of any material and are of a size in proportion of the standard cross ties used on the railroads of today. I also provide rails 20 proportionate in size 10 to the cross ties and substantially of the same cross section as the standard rail, only in miniature.

I propose to fasten these rails 20 to the ties II with wire staples 30 which are forced up through 15 the ties II with the ends of the staples projecting above the upper face of the tie, as shown on the left hand end of Figure 3. These ends project up through the ties ll just long enough so that they can be clinched over the flange of the 20 rail 20 as shown in the right hand end of Figure 3. The clinching of these staple ends is done in a manner so that they have the realistic appearance of the head of the standard spike.

This method of assembly presents a very sim- 25 ple way of fastening the rails and the ties together and is economical. With a jig to hold the rails in an inverted position to the proper gauge the ties can be laid on a pair of rails and the staples forced through the ties against an anvil 30 to clinch the ends oversthe flange edges to hold the rail to the ties in a secure'manner and will be an exact reproduction in miniature of a standard gauge track system.

The staples are driven up through the ties at 35 a predetermined distance apart, thus establishing any desired gauge or distance between rails. These staples may also be made of a size to straddle the base flange of the rail and long enough so that the extreme points can be bent 40 over toward the center line of the rail, thus securing the rails to the sleeper or tie.

It will be readily understood that if desirable it is an easy matter to so construct the bending and clinching means that when the wire ends are 5 formed to engage the rails the tops would have an exact appearance of the head of a spike in miniature.

In my invention the rails are assembled to the ties and after being placed in position, small 50 stone ballast can be sprinkled between the ties to complete the track system that will present a correct appearance with all the exposed parts correctly proportioned in relation to the prototype. 55

I claim:

In a small scale model railroad system, a track comprising a plurality of wooden cross ties, a rail having the standard shape resting with its flange upon the ties, means to secure the rail to the ties comprising a U shaped wire initially of uniform cross section passing through each tie with the ends of the U clinched over the flange of the rail on each side thereof with said ends flattened and widened in said clinching operation to represent 10 the heads of spikes.

HOWELL DAY. 

